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Forum:On the Future of the Fellowship of Jedi
=A Statement of Purpose= Hello everyone. Excuse me for being absent for such a long period of time. Let me explain partly why it is that I have been gone for what seems to me like an eternity. I am the owner of a small business, a full time college student, the president of the student body at my school, the founder of two political organizations, the founder of a student organization at my college, a writer (working on my second book), a father, and a husband. To many of you, this may seem nothing extraordinary, but to me - a 21 year old college student - it is a rather difficult act of juggling. I know that the information above may be deemed completely unnecessary by some, but I felt a need to clarify exactly how much I have to do in life outside of being the founder of the Fellowship of Jedi. I love this organization, and I hope one day that the Fellowship of Jedi becomes the foundation upon which the Jedi Order was built. But I honestly feel as if you all may be misinterpreting the purpose of the FoJ. I say this because I see discussions on the forums about psi balls and empathy and how to train to develop one's Force powers. As far as I know, the Fellowship of Jedi was created specifically to found the Jedi Order, which will then create policy on Force powers such as psi balls and empathy. I just wish that you all, with the possible exception of Ghelæ (you seem to understand most of all what my vision for the FoJ is), will understand what I have tried to state so many times. The Fellowship of Jedi is not here to teach people how to be the Jedi from the Star Wars films. Nor is it the Fellowship of Jedi's to create Jediism doctrine. All we are here to do is to give the term Jedi a real meaning in todays world. A meaning that completely shatters the preconceived notions of those who would cast judgment on an individual because that individual calls themself a Jedi. I want to make this very, very clear to everyone who reads this and wishes to see the founding of a real Jedi Order... :We will never see the Jedi Order established (at least with any credibility) if we continue to use language that alienates those who would hear us. Explaining to someone that you are meditating so that you can cast lightning out of the palm of your hand makes you seem nothing but a fool. I could just see news coverage of the FoJ.... "A new group claims the Force is real and we can be Jedis just like in the movies...and they are training to cast Psi Balls to prove it." I have a vision. A vision of a day where someone may call themselves a Jedi and be respected for that proclamation, not criticized and ridiculed. I have a vision of a day where men and women may attend a private university (accredited in all states) where they may earn a degree in any of the humanities or sciences while receiving guidance and training in the beliefs of Jediism; a Jedi College to rival the most prestigious of Christian colleges out there. I envision a day where both men and women practice their martial combat skills before listening to their region's Jedi Master lecture on the nature of the Force, after which they go on to receive training in the various forms of meditation. I reach out and grasp in my mind this vision, a vision of a Jedi Council, working to bring the comforting light of peace, tranquility, and love (yes, not all Jedi are opposed to emotion) to the world. I reach out and grasp and what I return with is hope. I look at what is taking place here with this haphazard organization and my hope is strengthened. I look at those of you who have persistently dedicated hours of work and effort in the building of the Fellowship of Jedi, and I know that there are others who share my vision. But we must never forget that it is not we who decide or shall decide what teachings to canonize and what training methods to espouse. That is for the Jedi Order, with its various Schools of Jediism, to decide. We are but the Fellowship of Jedi. We shall be the unsung heroes of future Jedi. We are the ones who will make it possible for the seed of Jediism to grow and flourish in our world into a great tree, whose canopy shall grow to embrace all those who are willing to learn and grow. But we must remember that we are not that seed, nor shall we be that tree. We must keep in mind that... *The Fellowship of Jedi is not the Jedi Order... *The Jedi Order is, as of this moment, non-existant... *There are no canonized works or doctrines for Jedi to follow... *There are no true Jedi in this world...as of yet. This is the true purpose of the Fellowship of Jedi... *To help bring together the various Jedi organizations (like The Jediism Way, The Force Academy, and JEDI) so that a council may be formed, from which the Jedi Order may arise, complete with institutional laws, charter (if needed), parliamentary system, and an organizational constitution with elected governing officials. *Once we, the Fellowship of Jedi, bring this newly formed Jedi Order about, then it may begin the work of forming a series of canonized teachings, beliefs, training regimens, practices, traditions, and rituals that give shape and structure to the Jedi Order. *Once canonized works have been established and learned by those chosen to teach them, the work of training, teaching, and inducting people into the Jedi Order may begin. Only then will there be any who may truly call themselves Jedi. Even I, the founder of the Fellowship of Jedi, know that I am no Jedi. I know that I am no Jedi because, right now, there are no Jedi, there are only those that - by self proclamation - have announced themselves to be Jedi, half of which do not truly know what that statement implies. I ask of you all but one thing, aid me in the founding of the Fellowship of Jedi, which will one day merge all the different tribes, schools, and sects of Jediism into one body that will be truly known as the Jedi Order. Aid me in this, and I will be forever at your debt. May the Force guide your Way. :::::::::::::::*Michael Daughdrill 21:53, 10 July 2007 (UTC) Responses Wow. Erm... well, I suppose that the idea of disapproving and patronistic news coverage is an important factor, so perhaps we should put more emphasis on the fact that Force powers are in fact disputed, and there are likely many Jedi who do not believe that they are possible at all. The reason why I used the term "Jedi" there, despite your statement, will be explained further down. The Jedi Order will be a good idea, however discussion between all of the websites may be difficult, and one website should be chosen for the discussions, possibly a forum section of a main site for the Jedi Order, the main site possibly at least partly wiki-based. A main canonised doctrine to follow isn't the best idea, probably a main base work, and different Schools and groups (what are now the Jediist organisations, but will then be individual temples) should have their own expanded works, "personalised" for each temple's beliefs. Even then, however, some temples will have disagreements as to the nature of the Force, so just as likely each individual can have their own ideas, based on the main works. Another important factor will be to remove the common notion that anybody who calls themselves a Jedi is a deluded teenager, twenty- or thirty- something who thinks they have a real lightsaber. I think a good way for this is to compare Jediism to other religions - for example, "The Force" is just an English term for Chinese "Qi" in a way - and telling people that Jedi do not believe that they own lightsabers, and that Jediism merely took some terms and concepts from Star Wars, lightsabers not being one of these. Other ways will likely also be needed. However, even if Jediism becomes respected enough to have prestigious Jedi Colleges, I don't believe that that should be the case. It's just my opinion, but having different colleges for different religions encourages isolationism and might even lead to another religious war. Something like Sunday School would be better, with schools being for al religions and races but Jedi training in local temples (or even in the home) on weekends and in holidays, with obvious time to oneself. My final point, promised earlier on: The reason I used the term "Jedi" is that, in my opinion, a Jedi is a follower of Jediism, while the "Jedi" you were on about is a Jedi Knight, a fully-trained Jedi ready to do whatever is needed of them, and teach young Padawans. It seems to me that we are like these Padawans, but with no-one to follow we must all teach, and learn for, ourselves. 15:28, 11 July 2007 (UTC) :* I definitely see what you are saying, Ghelæ, and agree with you on most. However, I would like to clarify my opinion further by stating what statements of your's I disagree with. I will do this in list order so that there is no confusion, and follow each item on the list by stating my opinion. ::1. "...perhaps we should put more emphasis on the fact that Force powers are in fact disputed, and there are likely many Jedi who do not believe that they are possible at all." :::- I think that you may still be missing most of what I was attempting to express in the above statement. While it is true that some Jedi may believe in Force powers, that is like saying some Christians believe in Santa Clause. It is irrelevant because there is no official Jedi belief as of yet. There are some Jedi who believe lightsabers are real, and they have just as much credibility as those who say Force powers are real simply because there is no Jediism doctrine to state otherwise. We, the Fellowship of Jedi, are not to assert either way. We are not to put up information on Force powers because we do not know if Force powers is truly representative of the religion of Jediism. I think that most people have the purpose of the Fellowship of Jedi mixed up. The Fellowship of Jedi is not a source of information for practicing Jedi. Point is, it is not the Fellowship of Jedi's place to decide whether or not there is any such thing as Force powers because we are not the authority on the matter. Our purpose is to set the bring about the organization that will have the authority. :2. "The Jedi Order will be a good idea, however discussion between all of the websites may be difficult, and one website should be chosen for the discussions, possibly a forum section of a main site for the Jedi Order, the main site possibly at least partly wiki-based." ::- There is no doubt that it will be difficult to bring together the different organizations already established out there in discussion. It will be even more difficult to actually found the Jedi Order itself. I agree with you that one website should be chosen for discussion between the most prominent members of the Jediism websites, but I believe that that should be the Fellowship of Jedi website I hope to see built within the next year. As I have stated, I am a small business owner. Well, my small business is about to become extremely valuable, bringing me in an estimated one-hundred and eighty thousand dollars within the eighteen to twenty-four months, with income only going up from there. I intend to have a website built for the Fellowship of Jedi. I also intend to hire a small team of individuals working full time to establish the various connections with the other Jediism websites, maintain the website, and to handle marketing efforts. I disagree with the website being wiki-based. The reason I disagree with this is this: The work that the Fellowship of Jedi is too great to be left in the hands of anyone. While I completely support the free sharing of information, I disagree that wiki form is the best way to do that. Look at all the trouble you and I have had to go through just to keep lightsabers and Boba Fett off of this wiki. We must be able to present the ideals of the Fellowship of Jedi with perfect clarity and purpose. Forums would be excellent, and chat rooms, too. There will of course be private forums for the more wise and respected members of the website which will be used by them for the purpose of collaborating to found the Jedi Order. :3. "A main canonised doctrine to follow isn't the best idea, probably a main base work, and different Schools and groups (what are now the Jediist organisations, but will then be individual temples) should have their own expanded works, "personalised" for each temple's beliefs. Even then, however, some temples will have disagreements as to the nature of the Force, so just as likely each individual can have their own ideas, based on the main works." ::- I will respond to you statement here by saying this: In its early stages, the teachings of Christianity were spread out, disorganized, and some even contradictory. There came a need to unify the teachings into one work. There came a need to weed out some of the fringe teachings and things obviously contradictory to the spirit of Christianity. Once this was accomplished, one could go up to someone and say to them, "Look, this is Christianity. Isn't it great?" instead of going up to someone and saying, "Ok, let's sit down for a couple of hours while I try to explain to you Christianity." I believe that Jediism needs a Bible. A series of canonized teachings that is universally accepted amongst all Jedi. I hope to bring about a situation where men and women wise in the ways of Jediism in its current, unorganized ideological sense, so that there may be an organization created that will last the test of time. It has been my observation that only organized religions and organized spiritual systems have a tendency to sustain themselves and grow. Look at Taoism, Jainism, Shinto, Animalism, Deism, etc., etc. These are all religions or spiritual systems that are not organized, and have no established teachings. As I said before, I hope to do the same thing with Jediism that happened with Christianity at the First Council of Nicea. There may be 'temples' to pop up and claim to be part of the religion of Jediism, but it will be the same as a church being built and claiming to be part of the Catholic Church but really not being; they will have no legitimate claim. There may be 'schools of Jediism' pop up, but without the recognition of the Jedi Order they will have no credibility. Temples may have disagreements, but with the Jedi Order being the authoritative figure, there will be a means of mediation. Each individual will naturally have their own opinions, but with the Jedi Order being the authoritative figure within Jediism, these individuals may receive guidance so that their opinions might not become warped, distorted, or contradictory in light of the true nature of Jediism. :4. "...if Jediism becomes respected enough to have prestigious Jedi Colleges, I don't believe that that should be...having different colleges for different religions encourages isolationism..." ::- I disagree. How is a Christian who aspired to become a preacher suppose to receive advanced education in his field? There is no public university that offers degrees in Divine Science or Biblical Studies. I think that religious universities may have tendencies to cause isolationism, but no more so than other social structures, and it has a purpose. There must be some place where future Jedi Knights and Masters (if those are even the terms used) may receive an education concentrated toward Jediism. But yet again, this is not for me or you to decide. Whether or not there exist a Jedi Academy is for the future Jedi Order to decide. :5. "My final point, promised earlier on: The reason I used the term "Jedi" is that, in my opinion, a Jedi is a follower of Jediism, while the "Jedi" you were on about is a Jedi Knight, a fully-trained Jedi ready to do whatever is needed of them, and teach young Padawans. It seems to me that we are like these Padawans, but with no-one to follow we must all teach, and learn for, ourselves." ::- Let me phrase my response like this: You say a Jedi is a follower of Jediism. But I say to you, What is Jediism? Do you have a clear cut definition? Are there certain things that I must believe in order to call myself a Jedi? Do I have to believe in the Force? Do I have to believe in lightsabers? Do I have to call myself a Padawan? See my point? I could call myself a Boodidoodidoo, and if no one knows what it means exactly to be a Boodidoodidoo then I cannot be refuted in my claim; but my claim is meaningless. It means nothing to call myself a Jedi if there is no meaning behind the word. You may think to yourself, this person is a Jedi, but that just means they are a Jedi in your opinion. I have to eat though. Sorry my post was so long. May the Force guide your Way. :::::::::::::::*Michael Daughdrill 22:10, 11 July 2007 (UTC) ::After reading through your reply several times, I will now reply to some of your points as briefly yet as descriptively as I can. ::1, 3 & 5: I suppose that the main point is that there is no organised religion of Jediism yet exists. For 1, the reason that such pages as Force powers and other disputed topics exist on this wiki was because of the idea that this is an encyclopedia of Jediism. However, as you have noted, organised Jediism does not exist yet. ::2.1: What I meant by "wiki-based" wasn't the idea of an open, anybody-can-edit wiki like Wikia and Wikipedia. Take a look at the Wikimedia Foundation website - you have to be logged in to edit, and can only register if your account request is approved. This wiki-based section might be to catalogue the beliefs and doctrine of the Jedi Order once it has been created. ::2.2: As for the chat rooms, tey are a good idea, but there is one major flaw: Chat rooms are meant to be live communication, equivalent to talking of the telephone. However, us two, for example, live in different time zones. I start editing at ~ 16:00 UTC, and make my final edits at about ~ 10:00 UTC at the very latest when I go to bed. Then, anywhere from half an hour to two hours later, you start editing. Then there's the problem of chat room servers: What servers will you use? Will you use regular IRC or another? What if people don't have those servers? Will there be something like the Wikia CGI servers? These are all questions that are probably best answered at a later date. I guess my main point is that chat rooms may become good one day, but in the early days forums are your best bet. ::4: I thought that a Jedi temple could have Jedi Instructors teaching Padawans (what I meant by my "Sunday School" analogy, not very clear I admit), although sperate Jedi academies could exist for that. I come from England, and not a very densly-inhabited part of it, so I didn't really know what you meant by Christian and Jedi colleges. ::I hope my response is detailed enough. 16:59, 12 July 2007 (UTC)